Nearly two dozens SEPTA buses on fire in Philadelphia's Nicetown-Tioga region, thick smoke visible across city

Nearly two dozen SEPTA buses caught fire at a bus depot in Philadelphia's Nicetown-Tioga neighbourhood on Thursday morning, according to an NBC10 report.

Following the incident, firefighters are working to put out a blaze after 20 buses caught fire.

The fire broke out just after 6 am in the 2400 block of Roberts Avenue in Philadelphia's Tioga-Nicetown section. The fire upgraded to a 3-alarm blaze around 7:30 am.

A spokesperson for the company referred to the facility as “the bus graveyard,” where decommissioned buses are stored.

Over 150 firefighters responded to the incident, Assistant Chief Charles Walker said.

Police said that as many as two dozen decommissioned buses have caught fire at the SEPTA Midvale District, next to the Roberts Yard.

These decommissioned buses are said to be a mix of electric powered and gas buses, however, it is unclear which buses are currently burning.

Notably, Midvale Depot is SEPTA's largest facility, used for both maintenance and storage.

As the buses caught fire, thick black smoke was seen in the sky.

SEPTA officials confirmed that no injuries have been reported, adding that the fire did not impact the company's bus service.

Andrew Busch, SEPTA's director of communications said that the buses caught fire were "getting ready to go to the scrap heap", adding, "As far as we know right now, none of our in-service buses are in the vicinity or threatened by this."

The officials have not revealed the cause behind the incident yet, but said that it caused street closures in the Roosevelt Boulevard area near Germantown Avenue in Hunting Park.

The fire was placed under control just after 8 am, according to the Philadelphia Fire Department.